Search

Race and attraction studies are gaining popularity as conceptual frameworks explore the associations between racism, color blindness, race, and attraction. This study investigates the association between race and attraction by examining the connection between racial ideologies and bias. Same‐race bias in attraction is well documented in existing literature. This study explores whether the strength of same‐race bias is associated with color‐blind racial ideology, multiculturalism, and racial group membership. A sample of 374 Black and White young adults rated the attractiveness of six dating profiles. The results indicated that some associations between same‐race attraction and racial ideologies are moderated by participant race. Among White participants, greater color‐blind racial ideology was associated with stronger attraction to same‐race targets. By contrast, among Black participants, an opposite trend existed as greater color‐blind racial ideology was associated with a decrease in same‐race bias. Additionally, multiculturalism was associated with a decrease in same‐race bias among White participants. Further findings indicate that Black women and White men reported lower attraction to other‐race targets than Black men and White women. This study offers new insights into understanding racial bias in romantic attraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Race play, the act of making explicit overtures to race, racial differences, or political racial dynamics within the context of a kink or BDSM (bondage dominance/submission, sadism/masochism) can be a contentious topic among scholars and members of alternative sexuality communities. In the current study, we explored how individuals’ ideologies about race and sex are associated with their opinions of race play. Two-hundred thirty-four participants recruited through sex-positive and BDSM community spaces between January and June of 2021 completed measures of color-blind racial ideology and sexual comfort as assessments of critical consciousness and sex-positive values. Additionally, participants provided open-ended responses to a description of race play. Mixed-methods analyses using k-means clusters and crosstabs approaches indicated that the interaction of critical consciousness and sex positive attitudes influenced participants’ views on race play. Among those with strong sex-positive attitudes, those who denied institutional racism were more likely to provide unequivocal support for race play while those who acknowledged institutional racism were more likely to emphasize the nuance of balancing personal sexual freedom with the implications of race for practitioners as well as spectators. Additional research is needed to further determine whether racial group membership has an impact on opinions toward race play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of relationship science began with understanding the role of attraction and has expanded to examine factors associated with relationship initiation, development, and maintenance. Despite the growth of the field, recent reviews of topics present in relationship science have revealed a dearth of literature examining sociocultural contexts that may impact relational processing, especially for traditionally underrepresented groups in science. Notably, given the theories, frameworks, and methods applied in these disciplines, counseling psychology and relationship science are at the forefront of examining such contexts. To this end, the goal of the special issue was to bring together scholars whose work is either an application of or showcases how the contemporary foci of counseling psychology, including but not limited to intersectionality, social justice, cultural competence/humility, identity, strengths‐based approaches, and social power hierarchies are applicable to the study of relationships broadly defined. This editorial synthesis provides a brief summary of the four articles that are included in this special issue and ends with recommendations for future research that intersects counseling psychology and relationship science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study explored the associations between relationship stigma, Racial-ethnic Worldview (REW; a construct developed as a comprehensive assessment of individual’s perceptions of race and ethnicity), and relationship quality among those in interracial relationships (i. e., participants indicated their race was different than the race of their partner). One type of REW (Color-blind Achieved) was especially susceptible to the negative consequences of stigma from family members. Other significant differences in relationship quality and relationship stigma were found based on REW. Most notable is that individuals who acknowledge institutional racism, have positive intergroup attitudes, and a positive ethnic identity reported better relationship quality than those who denied institutional racism and/or had less positive attitudes toward their own ethnic group. These results demonstrate the utility of REW in contextualizing the experiences of individuals in interracial relationships as it relates to perceived stigma and relationship quality. The study offers a critical account of how individuals understanding of the racial and ethnic social context shapes relationship outcomes for those in interracial relationships in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical investigations on whether there is a difference in relationship satisfaction for partners in interracial compared to intraracial relationships offer contradictory conclusions. The current study reviewed investigations of differences in satisfaction using a meta-analysis to determine whether and under what circumstances there is a difference in relationship satisfaction. Individual, dyadic, environmental, and methodological variations in study participants and designs were explored as potential moderators. Using estimates of effect size d, no overall difference in relationship satisfaction was found between intraracial and interracial relationships. The examination of the moderators revealed that sample size and geographic location of the study impacted whether differences were detected, but most tests for moderation indicated no differences. These conclusions suggest that the current literature on satisfaction in interracial relationships as less satisfied than intraracial relationships may be a reflection of publication bias in which statistically significant differences are published. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a mixed-method approach, this study investigates how individuals believe race impacts their interracial relationship. Two-hundred and three individuals representing diverse racial-gender compositions of relationships responded to a series of measures to assess their Racial Worldview—a collective of notions about racial/ethnic identity, intergroup relations, and recognition of racist hegemony—before indicating the ways in which race or racial issues affect their romantic partnership. Results revealed four distinct types of Racial Worldview through K-means cluster and four broad themes of influences on relationship communication and functioning. Cross-tabs analyses indicated that Racial Worldview and participants perceptions of the impact of race were related with statistically significant differences between those who acknowledge racism and valued group differences reaching different conclusions than those who do not. The results add to existing research by drawing attention to the heterogeneity of thought and understanding within interracial relationships. The promise of using Racial Worldview in future research is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical research to explain why partners in interracial relationships appear to be less committed than partners in intraracial relationships is scarce. The Investment Model has been shown to be a robust predictor of relationship commitment, but has only been applied to interracial relationships on a few occasions. Using a sample of 232 couples (n = 172 intraracial; n = 60 interracial), we found the Investment Model performs comparatively well in interracial and intraracial relationships. However, there were some differences in the influence of investments on commitment. Investments were associated with concurrent commitment in intraracial but not interracial relationships, and an interdependent version of the Investment Model (Actor–Partner Interdependence Investment Model) fit intraracial relationships better than interracial relationships. The results suggest there are nuances in applying the Investment Model to interracial relationships, but that the model is promising for understanding the commitment of partners who experience marginalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study used dyadic data to investigate the impact of relationship type and social support on the retrospective accounts of commitment trajectories of romantic relationships. Past research suggests that social support is a positive contributor to relationship stability and commitment, which may be especially true for partners in interracial relationships who face broader societal opposition than intraracial couples. Using multilevel modeling, we investigated the effects of sex, relationship type, and social support on reports of commitment. Results showed differences in trajectories of commitment based on couple type (interracial vs. intraracial) for both men and women. Social support was found to have an especially strong impact for women in interracial relationships compared with women in intraracial relationships, but there was no differential impact among men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study integrated constructs from the fields of relationship science (i.e., similarity and familiarity) and intergroup research (i.e., racial ideologies, particularly color-blind racial ideology and multiculturalism) to explore interracial romantic attraction. Using a person-perception design, 124 Black (n = 62) and White (n =62) heterosexual college men indicated their romantic attraction to the dating profiles of three Black and three White women. Results from analyses consistent with a linear mixed-model approach supported most of the hypotheses, including participants in general were more attracted to women of the same race and that greater endorsement of multicultural ideological beliefs was associated with increased interracial attraction. For White men, greater endorsement of color-blind racial ideology was predictive of a decrease in interracial romantic attraction as hypothesized. Contrary to the hypotheses, increased interracial contact for Black men was associated with an increase in same race attraction. Results are discussed in the context of existing literature, and important next steps are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The initiation of relationships is a relatively neglected topic of investigation within the interdisciplinary field of personal relationships. One aim of this research was to examine the degree to which heterosexual romantic relationships were perceived to be initiated more by one partner versus by both partners mutually. A second aim was to examine dispositional (sex and attachment style) and relational factors (relative interest early in the relationship and Current satisfaction) associated with doing the work of relationship initiation. Study I, which combined several samples of young adults who had been asked about the initiation stage of their relationship, indicated that relationship initiation was generally imbalanced; one partner was perceived as doing more of the work than the other. Further analyses indicated that women were more likely to report that the partner rather than the self was the initiator, but no such difference was found for men. Those with a preoccupied attachment style reported greater degrees of self-initiation. Consistent with Waller's principle of least interest (e.g., Waller and Hill 1951), greater interest (relative to the partner) was also associated with doing the work of relationship initiation. Participants with balanced relationship initiation reported greater current satisfaction and commitment. In a follow-up study, based on data from both members of 75 couples, moderate agreement between partners was found about who initiated the relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thin, uniform, rectangular, elastic plate is freely supported in air, and driven so that it vibrates flexurally at a resonance frequency. The modal function, which describes the vibrational displacement over the surface of the plate, is approximated as the product of two sine functions. From this modal function the probability density function (pdf), P(s), for random sampling over the plate surface of the rms acceleration, is calculated to be 4π-2 K(1-s2), where K is a complete elliptic integral. Using this expression and experimental values sampled randomly over the plate surface, estimates of known precision can be made of the mean vibrational level of the plate. Experimental results are given for a steel plate measuring 4 ft×3 ft×1/4 in., resonating at a single frequency; they agree quite well with the theoretical cumulative function derived from the pdf given above. Also considered are cases where two overlapping modes are excited at a given frequency. The corresponding pdfs are found, by Monte Carlo calculations, for five different values of phase difference between two modes excited with equal amplitudes. As the pdfs are known for the case where a pure tone excites many overlapping modes (exponential for the mean-square acceleration, Rayleigh for the rms value), an outline of the sampling statistics is now available for all modal densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]